Teacher's practices for teaching literacy

The study shows the results of a survey about teachers' practices for the initial teaching of literacy in nine geographic areas of Spain. A questionnaire including 30 closed questions was used to collect teachers' preferences on a 6-point Likert scale, Questions refer to four topics related to the teaching of written language: a) organisation of the class; b) planning,, c) activities and content; and d) evaluation. The sample was constituted by 2,250 teachers, 1, 193 front preschool (5-year olds) and 1,057 from first year of primary school (6-year olds). The population interviewed was found to be evenly distributed in three different teaching practice profiles according to teachers' preferences for: 1) explicit Instructional Practice, highly focussed on learning outcomes but less concerned with autonomous writing and occasional learning; 2) Situational Practice, more concerned, with spontaneous writing and occasional learning than with explicit instruction and learning outcomes; and 3) Multidimentional Practice focusing both on explicit instruction and leaning outcomes and on autonomous writing. The distribution of these profiles differed significantly for: age, education level (preschool or primary school), type of school (private, public or charter), school location, in training service, and professed methodology for teaching literacy. A detailed characterisation of teachers' practices is a first and crucial step for determining the best conditions for successful literacy learning.